Portable book container



NOV. 2, 1954 T STUCKART 2,693,293

PORTABLE BOOK CONTAINER Filed Dec. 6. 1952 IN VEN TOR.

" atent @fiiice 2,693,293 Patented Nov. 2, 1954 1 2,693,293 PORTABLE BOOK CONTAINER Alfred T. Stuckart, Spokane, Wash. Application December 6, 1952, Serial No. 324,581 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-71 The present invention is a portable container for books and it has for its principal object the provision of a container for books adapted to preserve the books and maintain them easily accessible when it is desired to remove them from the container.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a book container which has a receptacle water-proof at its bottom so that snow and water will not be admitted to the container if the container is set down therein.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a portable book container which has spring biased followers for supporting the books in vertical planes where they are not apt to be torn from jostling in the container.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a container for books having a substantially lower front wall and a top or cover hinged to the upper edge of the back wall and secured to the front wall, whereby when the cover is opened the books may be easily with drawn from the container.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a portable book container which may be constructed from inexpensive materials and be provided with a suitable bracing frame so that the container will maintain a desired shape.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of means for generally improving containers for books and enabling one to transport books to and from classrooms or like places without materially wearing or mutilating the books.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved portable book container;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse cross section taken midway the length of the container;

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section taken as at line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical fragmentary cross section taken longitudinally of the container through one end wall thereof; and

Figure 5 is a view in perspective showing one of the spring biased followers and a ring of the correlated spring.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, I have indicated the portable book container in general by the numeral 10, and it will be seen that the container comprises a receptacle 1]. which has a front wall 12, a rear wall 13 and opposed end walls 14 and 15. The end walls 14 and 15 are of the same height and have arcuate upper corners as at 16. The rear wall 13 has its upper edge spaced downwardly from the upper edge of the end walls 14 and 15, which edge corresponds in height to the lower extremity of the arcuate corners 16. The front wall 12 is of substantially less height than the back wall 13 and, therefore, the receptacle 11 is provided with an open top and a major portion of its front is also open.

The receptacle is formed of any suitable water-proof material such as rigid plastic or metal, in which case the receptacle is self-supporting. However, a pliable material such as leather or compositions may be used when a suitable bracing frame is applied for rigidity.

The receptacle is provided with an angular cover 17 which is here shown to be formed in two sections as 18 and 19 hingedly secured to each other asat 20 spaced forwardly from the transverse midpoint of the container. As indicated in Figure 2, the cover section 18 is provided with an arcuate portion corresponding to the arcuate corner 16 and has its edge hingedly connected at 21 to the back Wall 13 at its upper edge. The cover section 19 starting from the hinge 20 extends forwardly and has an arcuate cross section corresponding to the arcuate corner 16 and terminates in a vertically disposed sheet 22 having its free edge portion disposed in face to face relation with the upper edge of front wall 12. The front wall 12 and free edge of cover 17 are provided with cooperating fasteners, such as are indicated at 23, which releasably secure the cover in closing relation to the receptacle.

A hand grip 24 is united to the cover section 18 in any suitable way and is disposed centrally of the container cover 17.

Withinxthe receptacle 11, 1 have provided a frame 25 which has parallel inwardly disposed bars 26 lying in face to face relation with the inside faces of the front and rear walls 12 and 13 and adjacent their upper edges. The bars are united at their ends by braces which cornprise portions 27 each united by an enlarged disc-shaped section 28 midway its length. Each disc-shaped section 28 has an annular inwardly disposed ring 29 which is arcuate in cross section, as seen in Figure 4, and thus provides a peripheral groove 30. It will thus be seen that the frame 25 is provided to support the receptacle 11 against transverse collapsing or expansion, and as they are secured by rivets or other suitable means to the front, rear and end walls, these walls are rigidly supported thereby.

Carried by the annular rings 29 are spaced axially aligned springs 31, and these springs have coils or rings at their extremities. Each spring has its outer ring constructed in the peripheral groove 30 whereby the braces carry the springs. Intermediate the inner ends of the springs 31 are a pair of followers 32 which are disposed in vertical planes and have their front edges outwardly flared as at 33 to make the application of books therebetween easy. On the outside faces of the followers 32, I have provided vertically disposed loops 34 which are struck from the body of the followers 32 and the extreme inner ring of each spring 31 extends through the loops of an adjacent follower. Therefore, the followers are supported on the inner ends of the springs 31 carried by the braces 25 and are biased toward each other thereby. Books B may thus be inserted between the followers and will be held in side by side parallel relation by the springs 31 and followers 32.

By opening the cover 17, books may readily be applied or removed from the container. It will be understood that if desired, the hinge 21 could be omitted and the cover only be that portion of the cover indicated by the portion 19, and books could thereby be removed and placed in the container. It is contemplated to use this smaller cover on containers to besold at a lower retail price.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A portable book container comprising a receptacle, a supporting frame for the Walls of the receptacle and having parallel bars secured to and extending the full length of the front and rear walls, said frame having end braces extending along and secured to the end walls, inwardly disposed annular rings, each having a peripheral groove and carried by said braces midway the length of the end braces, axially aligned opposed expansion springs carried by said brace portions and secured thereto by means of the end one of each outer convolution encircling its cooperating annular ring and constricted in the peripheral groove, vertically disposed horizontally movable followers in said receptacle and having outwardly flared vertical front edges, spaced upper and lower loops struck from the followers and disposed toward the end walls of said receptacle, and the rings on the inner ends of said springs each extending through correlated loops on one opposed follower and supporting the follower thereby, said followers being biased toward each other by said springs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,028,168 Williams June 4, 1912 1,468,816 Johnson Sept. 25, 1923 1,732,643 Dierks Oct. 22, 1929 2,118,323 Murphy May 24, 1938 2,205,606 Storer June 25, 1940 2,534,456 Kudrikoff Dec. 19, 1950 

